Automatic weighing-machine.



No.- 694,487. Patented Mar. 4, |902.

G. W. LOTTRIDGE.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE.

(Application Bled Jaxx. 30, 1901.)

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un. 694,437. Y Patented mar. 4, 1902.

G. W. LDTTRIDGE. f AUTOMATIC williams MACHINE.

(Application led 3419.130, 1901.)

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JliY /ff fl 1 CMI 3 No. 694,487. Y Y Patented Mar. r4.1 |902.

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AUTOMATIC 'WEIGHING MACHINE.

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Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. LOT-TRIDGE, OF BRADLEY,` ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO FRANK R.

SLEEPER AND EUGENE H. M

yAUTO MATlo wE-l AOOY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

crime-MACHINE;

srlncrrrcn'rroiv forming para or Letters Patentuaeeaasv, dated Maren 4, `1902. Application inea January so, 1to1. serai No. 45,332. (N6 man.)

To if/ZZ whom it' may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE W. LOTTRIDGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bradley, county of Kankakee, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new'and useful Improvements in Automatic Weighing- Machines for Lu mpy, Granul'ated,'and other Material, of which the following, when taken in connection with the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof, is a full and complete description sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to which it pertains' to lunderstand, make', and use the same.

This invention relates to machines for automatically separating4 a desired weight of material from a massv thereof and automatp ically delivering theY same into a package or other receptacle ;v and the purpose of this'invention is to obtain tan automatic vWeighingmachine by means of which a determined weight of lumpy or granulated material-as, say, starch-as well as a determined weight Iof powdered material-as, say, table-starchmaybe automatically delivered into packages placed to receive' the. same.

A further purpose of thisinvention is to obtain an automatic weighing-machine wherein ythe iow of the material delivered therefrom is continuous and wherebythe Vdirection of such flow is automaticallydeterminedina manner to obviateany -tendency to .break the A material when the same is lumpyorM granulated.

Afurt-her purpose is to obtain a machine ofv the kind named wherein the flow of material `therefrom into the packages being filled thereby will not injure the package or tend` placed into packages which are being filled thereby.

In the drawing referred to as forming a part of this specification, and in which a referenceletter applied to designate a given part is used toindicate'such pa'rt throughout the several gures wherever the same appears, Figure l is a front elevation of a machine embodying thisinveutiou. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the movable parts of such .machine and of a portion of the frame thereof; and Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the weighted levers'forming elements in the machine, the mechanisms whereby the levers are maintained inan elevated position, and mechanisms by which the sameV are tripped and again restored to their initial position. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of 'a-y machine embodying the inventions in the constructions shown in Figs` l, 2, and 3 and Fig. 5 is a verticalsectional view on line 5 5 of lFig. 4, viewed'in the directedindicate'd by thea'rrows, and Fig. 6, a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of a load-receiver,thecover and the latches thereof shown in Figs. 4 and A 5, such coverclo'sed and latched,land'showing in broken lines such cover open and latched.

Theconstructio'n illustrated in Figs. 1,2, `andl 3 is suflicient and well adapted'to automatically weigh' and deposit inpackages lumpy material--as, say,`llaundrystarch, un- .groundcoffea and the likeand the construc- 'tion illustrated in Figs. 4, 5,-and 6 embody additional inventions, adapting the machine for use in packing powdered material, as say table-starch, flour, powdered sugar and the like.

The weighing-scales and several .parts-on the weighing-platform of the scales of the apl contents thereof on the addition-platforms secured to such scales, and Witha weighted lever forming an element in the apparatus, a latch designed to maintain such Weighted le-' ver in an operative position, and the tripping device thereof depressed to correspond with the depressed platform of the scales, and with the movable' hopper of the apparatus shifted 'by the action of such Weighted lever to deliver material therefrom to the right-hand depending spcut thereunder, such ligure showing the weighing-scales and the several parts on the right-hand side thereof in an elevated position, with material iiowing from the hope Ithe left-hand side of Fig. l are shown with additional inventions, hereinafter described. l'

paratus depressed, as by the packagesV and IOO per into a package on the elevated weighingplatform of the right-hand scales, the lever on such right-hand side maintained in its raised position by an arm or latch connected thereto, and the tripping device of such last-named arm or latch retracted, such parts on the righthand side of such figure being yin position whereby upon the depression of the platform of such right-hand scales the tripping device will disengage the latch, holding the operating-lever raised, permitting the same to fall, and thereby shift the movable hopper' into position to deliver material therefrom into the left-hand depending spout thereunder.

A is the frame of the apparatus, and B is the frame of the several levers and arms of the machine, which levers and arms are controlled by the position of the platform of the scales C C', respectively, and which levers and arms inl turn control the position of the movable hopper of the machine.

D' is a Weight attached to lnovable hopper D by rod d, such weight tending to maint-ain the hopper in a given position until the same is changed by one or the other of the operating-levers F F', hereinafter described, and d' d' are arms extending out from the movable hopper D and bent at the extremities d2 d2 thereof into the path of movement of such operating-levers.

di cl3 are the pivots on which movable hopper D is mounted.

EE' are the depending spouts of the stationary hopper underneath themovable 110pper D, into which depending spouts material is alternately delivered from such movable hopper D.

F F' are weighted levers pivotall y attached, as atf, to frame B, such levers when released from a raised position constituting the motive powervactuating the movable hopper D, as is hereinafter described. Levers F F' also accelerate thedownward movement of the Weighting-platforms of the scales C C', respectively, when the packages or other receptacles thereon contain a determined weight of material. Levers F F' are therefore hereinafter termed operating-levers.

f'f' are the weights on operating-levers F F'.

G G' are latches pivotally attached, as at g g', to operating-levers F F', respectively.

g2 g2 are shoulders on latches G G', engaging with abutments g3 g3 in frame B, respectively.

H H' are tripping-leverspivotally mounted, as at h h', respectively, to frame B.

I I' are rods secured at the lower end thereof, respectively, to the platform of the respective scales C C' and bent at the upper ends thereof, as at z' i', into the path of movementof the operating-levers F F.' and latches G G', respectively, thereby engaging both parts.

I2 I? are arms pivotally secured at one end thereof, as by pivots 2 i2, to the connections I I', respectively, and at the other end thereof, as by pivot i3, to abutments I3 to guide the movement of the upper end of such connections I I'.

J J' are platforms forming carton-holders, which are respectively rigidly secured tothe weighing-platforms of the scales C C', as by standards jj, and j'j' are guards or fingers which I prefer to place on platforms J J', respectively, between which guards packages K K' are slidden or pushed onto or off of platforms J J'.

The platforms J J' are not essential elements in this apparatus, such platforms performing the same functions as do the weighing-platforms of scales and such platforms J J' being used and attached, as described, merely to obviate the necessity of raising the scales C C', respectively, so that the platforms thereof will be in substantially the same place as are the platforms J J'. The position of the platforms J J' relative to thehoppers E E' is determined by the size of the packages K K', the upper edges of such packages when open being desired to be adjacent to the hopper thereover (when the platforms of the scales are raised and the packages are being filled) to obviate waste of the material which passes from the hopper to the packages.

Referring to the construction illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, and 6 of the drawings, P P' are receptacles mounted on the weighing-platforms of the scales C C', as by standardsjj, respectively, in Figs. 4 and 5. p p' are movable covers to openings-provided at the lower end of the receptacles P P', respectively, such covers beingpreferably hinged, as :111192, to the front of the receptacles P P', respectively. p3 p3 are weights attached to the covers p 1J', as by rod p", (see Fig. 5,) so that such covers p p' are yieldingly held closed thereby. The covers are forced open when unlatched by the contents of the respective receptacles P. P',

and to insure delivery of all of the contents of' the receptacles P P' into the down-spout Q the bottom of such receptacles are inclined vsubstantially as shown by broken linespp5 in Fig. 5. The edges of coversp p' are turned over on the sides of the receptacles P P', respectively, as at 196196. To maintainthe covers p p', respectively, closed while the receptacles P P' are being filled and open While such receptacles are being emptied, respectively, I provide a fastening comprising latches r r' and the abutments r2 r2,against which abutmen ts, respectively, latches r fr' are respectively forced when the receptacles P P' descend after such receptacles are filled and when they ascend after being emptied, thereby unlatching or loosening the covers p p', respectively, and latching them open in their descent and latching the covers in a closed position as the receptacles ascend after being emptied. Latches r r, respectively, are pivoted, as at r3, to respective covers p p', and latches r' r', respectively, are pivoted, as at r4, to the respective receptacles P P', Latch r is weighted, as at 1'5, to yieldingly hold the free end IOO IIO

thereof against the abutment r2 when the rel and the respective covers 1o 19' thereof'are opened. If such covers, therefore, are open on the descent of such receptacles, respectively, they will be held open by latchr until the receptacles have respectively ascended into substantially their raised position, after which timellevers r 9" on the respective receptacles P P' become engaged with abutments r2 9 vand are disengaged from abutments the abutments197197 on such covers, respec-4 'rir-G, thereby permitting weights193193, respectively, to yieldingly close covers 1919'. When the receptacles P P', respectively, are in a raised position and covers 19 19' thereof are closed, vthe respective levers r' r' engage with tively, (as by notches r7 r7,)-'thereby latching the'covers in a closed position until such time as (by the descent of the receptaclesP P', respectively) latches 1' 9^' are brought against abutments r2 r2, respectively, and thereby released from engagement with abutments 197197,

at which time the material contained in the receptacles will force the covers open, (as against weights 193 p3,) andV such covers will be latched in such open position by notchesv r6 fr@ on latches r r, respectively,engaging with the respective abutments r6 rfi, as are hereinabove described. Abutment r2 is posit-ionedrelative to latcl:` fr' so that the rev ceptacles will partiallydescend, respectively,

. receptacles P P', into whichA spout, the contents ofsuch receptacles are successively disn Spout Q is enlarged at the lower 55 trated in Fig. 5 of the drawings, (receptacle P' being depressedv by the weight of the contents thereof.) Qis a spout underneath the charged. end Q' thereof tocontain the entire contents of the packages'P P', respectively, as at Q. S2 is a driving-pulley of the shaft S', rigidly secured to such shaft. S3 is the driving-.belt of the pulley'S2'an`d lshaft S', such' driving-belt extending over pulley S2 and over ythe driving-pulley S4 on shaft S5.'- S6,

Fig. 4, is a wheel or drum rigidly secured to shaft S5 to turn therewith, and 'S7 i's'a belt forming a movable platform on which thev packages K3 K3 are placed to be filled from the spout Q. As theseveral packages K3 Ks are moved across the lower end ofpart Q' of 'connection 91.

spout Q, Athe contents of one orA the other of the receptacles P P' are discharged from such receptacles, passing through the spout Q thereunder and with such rapidity as to obviate any stoppage ofthe movable belt S7, the forward motion of suchbelt or platform being, relative to the discharge of the contents of the receptacles P P', so determined that an unfilled 'one ofthe packagesl KK3 is moved forward in suitable positiony to receive the contents of one or the other of thereceptacles P P' as the same aredischarged.

The operation of the construct-ion illustrated in Figs. l, 2, and 3 of the drawing is: When sufficient material N has iiowed .into the package K' to more than ccunterbalance weight- M',' platform J', togetherl with the' platforme'of the scale C', will commence to descend, and thereupon trip H' will be actuated by end 'Il' of connection'l", and shoulderg2 ofv vlatch G'will thereby be disengaged from abutment g3, permitting the lever F' to fall from the position thereof illustrated on the righthandsideof Fig. 1 andthe left-hand side of Fig. Sinto substantially the positionof weightedleverF, (on the lefthand side of Fig. l and right-hand side of Fig. 3..) The down movement of leverF' will be comparatively rapid,

and thereby the movable hopper D will be l rapidly rocked on pivot d3 byzbent extrem- 'ity cl2 of arm d, adjacent to andl underneath such Weightedlever, being, carried downward thereby. Theuninterrupted` flow of material from hopper D is thus diverted into spout E. While package K' isbeing filled, as last above ICO described, package K is taken fromf olf the platform .Land weight M will thereupon force Vplatform *VJ and 'connection I Vupward into -`about the positionofplatform J' and its con- -nection I', (on right-hand side of Fig. l and left-hand side of Fig; 3.) Therweighted lever F is raised bythe raising'of connection I, as last above described, to asnffieient height, so that `the shoulder "g2 of'latch G engages with the abutment g3, andthe weighted lever F is therebysustained in its yraised positionrbyl fsuch latch G. The weight ofsuch weighted `lever F is thereby taken from the connection,-

so that such connection I will not be depressed to any considerable extent (and not sufficient yto actuate the tripping-arm Hluntil sufficient material has flowed from spoutE into'pack- 'age K to counterbalance and a little more the. r.weight M, when the packageK, platform J, Vand connection I lwill be depressed inthe s ame manner as herebefore described with reference 'to the package VK', platft')'rm J and The tripping-lever H will be actuated by the downward movement of the connection Iby the vend t' of the', connection and the weighted' lever F will fall Vinto substantially the position thereof illustrated inA Fig. 1 and 2 thereby'rocking or turning movable hopper D into the position thereof illustrated in Figs. l and 2, Package K' having been removed from platform J' while `package K was being filled, as last above described,

IIO

and an additional empty package having been y placed on such platform J', the lever F', with its several connecting parts, will'have been raised into the position thereof illustrated in the drawings, and such additional packages will be lled in the manner herebetore described relative to package K'. The operation, as described, will be continued so long as the iilled packages are taken from the depressed platforms J J', respectively, and replaced by empty packages, and material is supplied to movable hopper D.

In the lconstruction illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, and 6 the operation of the parts corresponding with the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 is the same as last above described, and the operation of the additional parts therein vcontained is as follows: When a determined weight of material is deposited in the receptacles P P', such receptacles will descend successively in precisely the same manner as do the packages K K', and in the descent of the receptacles the latches r' r are brought into contact with abutments r2 r2, and thereby raised from contact with projection p", so releasing covers p p', respectively, and permitting the powdered material in the receptacles to ow into spout Q. Such material passes freely through the spout to the packages K3 K3, an empty one of such packages being brought to the mouth of such spout as a filled one is moved away therefrom.

Having thus described my invention, the construction of a machine embodying the same, and the operation of such machine, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an automatic weighing-machine, the combination of a stationary hopper provided with a plurality of depending spouts, loadreccivers to such depending spouts, respectively, a movable hopper above the stationary hopper to discharge successively into the depending spouts, means to yieldingly maintain the movable hopper in position to discharge into a given depending spout, levers and means to yieldingly maintain such levers in a depressed position, respectively, means to raise the levers respectively, means to maintain the levers in a raised position, respectively, means to successively trip such maintaining mechanisms when a determined Weight of material has been discharged from the movable hopper into one of the load-receivers, and a connection between the movable hopper and the levers, whereby the re-` turn of a lever to its depressed position moves the movable hopper from one of the positions thereof into the other of its positions: substantially as described.

2. In an automatic weighing-machine, the combination of a stationary hopper provided with a plurality of depending spouts, a pivotally-mountcd hopper above the stationary hopper movable to successively discharge into the depending spouts, load-receivers to such depending spouts, respectively, a weight mounted on the movable hopper above the pivots thereof to move through the vertical plane in which the pivots are placed as the hopper moves `from its position discharging into one depending spout to its position to discharge into the other depending spout, whereby the movable hopper is yieldingly maintained by such weight in position to discharge into a given depending spout, weighted levers, means for raising the weighted levers, respectively, and means for maintaining the weighted levers, respectively, in a raised position, means for tripping such maintaining mechanisms when a determined quantity of material has been discharged from the movable hopper into the load-rcceiver adjacent to the tripping mechanism, and a connection between the movable hopper and lthe weighted levers, whereby the falling of a Weighted lever moves such movable hopper from one of the positions thereof into the other of its positions: substantially as described.

3. In an automatic weighing-machine, the combination of a stationary hopper provided with a plurality of depending spouts, a pivotally-mounted hopper thereover movable to successively discharge into the depending spouts, means for yieldingly maintaining the movable hopper in position to discharge into a given depending spout, receptacle-supports yieldingly mounted to move when a given weight of material is received thereon from the depending spouts and to return to the initial position thereof when the given Weight of material is removed therefrom, mechanisms moved to operative position respectively, by the return of the receptacle-supports to the initial position thereof, respectively, connections between such mechanisms and the pivotally-movable hopper, means for maintaining such mechanisms in an operative position, respectively, independently of the receptacle-supports, and connections between the mechanisms and the yieldingly-mounted receptacle-supports whereby such mechanisms are released from the operative position thereof when the receptaclesupports are moved by a given weight of material thereon and the movable hopper is moved to discharge into the other depending spout by the operation of such released mechanism; substantially as described.

4. In an automatic weighing-machine, the combinationV of scales provided with load-receivers, a stationary hopper provided with a plurality of depending spouts, a movable hopper above the stationary hopper adapted to successively discharge into the depending spouts, means to yieldingly maintain the movable hopper in position to discharge into a given spout, operating-levers, abutments, latches to engage with such abutments to maintain the operating-levers in an operative position, respectively, levers adapted to trip the latches, respectively,connections between the scales and the tripping and operating le- ICC IIC

vers whereby the tripping-levers are, respectively, moved to unlatch the latches corresponding therewith when the load-receivers of the scales are moved by a determined weight of Vmaterial thereon, respectively, and to move such operating-levers into an operative position by the movement of the scales when such determined Weight of material is removed therefrom, andaconnection between the movable hopper and the operating-lever, whereby when the movableY hopper is in position to discharge into onel of the depending spouts and one of such operating-levers is released from its operative position the movable hopper is moved thereby in position to discharge into the other depending spout: substantially as described. v n

In an' automatic weighing-machine, the combination of a stationary hopper provided with a plurality of dependingspouts, a movable hopper above the stationary hopper to successively discharge into the depending spouts, meansto yieldingly maintain the movable'hopper in position to discharge into a given depending spout, levers and means to maintain the respective levers in a depressed position, movable platforms and means to yieldingly maintain such platforms in a raised position, and to determine the weight of material to depress such platforms, respectively, latchesto maintain the levers in a raised position, respectively, connections between the respective movable platforms and the levers and latches corresponding thereto to elevate such levers by the elevation and to trip suchy latches by the depression of the movable platforms, and connections between the respective levers and the movable hopper,

whereby the depressionof a lever moves such movable hopper from one of its positions into the other of its positions.

6. lIn an automatic weighing-machine, the

combination of a stationary hopper provided with a plurality of depending spouts, movable load-receivers to such depending spouts, respectively, covers to therespective load-receivers, latches to such covers, respectively, abutments coacting withthe latches, a movable hopper above the stationary hopper, to discharge successively into the depending spouts, means to yieldingly maintain the movable hopper in position to discharge into a given depending spout, levers and means tov yieldingly maintain such levers in a depressed position, respectively, means to raise the levers, respectively, means to maintain the levers in apraised position, respectively, means to successively trip such maintaining mechanismswhen a determined weight of material has been discharged from the movable hopper into the load-receivers, and a connection between the movable hopper and the levers, whereby the return of a lever to its depressed positionmoves the movable hopper from one of the positions thereof into the other of its positions: substantially as described.

7. In an automatic weighing-machine, the combination of a stationary hopper provided with a plurality of depending spouts, movable load-receivers to such depending spouts, respectively, coversrto the respective load-receivers, latches to such covers, respectively, abntments coating with some of such latches to move the latches from engagement holding the covers closed, and abutments coacting with the remainder 'of such latches to move them fromengagement holding the covers open, a movable hopper above the stationary hopper to discharge successively into the depending spouts, means to yieldingly maintain the movable hopper in position to discharge into a given depending spout, levers and means to yieldingly maintain such levers in a depressed position, respectively, means to raise the levers, respectively, means to maintain the levers in a raised position, respectively, means to successively trip such maintaining mechanisms when a determined weight of material has been discharged from the movable hopper into the load-receivers, successively, and a connection between the movable hopper and the levers, whereby the return of the lever to its depressed position 'moves the movable hopper from one of the positions thereof into the other of its positions: substantially as described. f

GEORGE W. LOTTRIDGE. ln presence of t ANNA M. KAMMANN,

C. B. RUSSELL. 

